The Ghost of You
by furicuri
Summary: Tarble is hiding a secret and carrying an even bigger burden. Will he ever come to terms that the woman he once loved is just a ghost of he former self?


Hi everyone! So this is a repost of a story I posted here I while back, with a few things edited and rewritten. And for those who reviewed from the original one, thank you and I'll post new chapters on Friday. It is a longer story, original story lines and it's going to eventually become a Vegeta/ Bulma romance, just need to set the background. I will warn now, it's not going to be a happy ending!

On another note, I don't really know much about Tarble's character so hopefully I'm not too off, but this is my story so I'll experiment.

Disclaimer: I don't own nothing, meh!

* * *

It was a very busy day at the visitor's center. It was the first day of summer and families everywhere came to visit their loved ones at the home. They were out and about. In the garden having tea, catching up and talking story, enjoying their time with their loved ones. Tarble somewhat envied those tender moments. He then stopped for a second and quickly pushed aside those feelings. Regardless if he seemed soft to his brother, there were some things Tarble and Vegeta had in common. He kept walking as he nodded, smiling and waving to some of the residents that greeted him on his way in to the home. Tarble was a regular.

"Tarble there you are! Sorry, we've been so busy today, but Zuya went to the bakery to buy Mizuna a cake for a little surprise for her birthday," Oka, one of the main attendants said as she welcomed the young Saiyan into the home. "Just keep her company until Zuya gets back!"

Tarble just smiled and nodded as he headed to the counter to pick up his badge. He held on to his flowers and continued to walk around the home and in the corner of his eye, he spotted her. She was sitting on the recliner where she always sat. Reading the same book she always read and her handy camera at her side.

Tarble stopped at the doorway and admired her. She was beautiful; a goddess in his eyes. Her hair was short, in a bob, something he wasn't quite used to. He remembered how he used to play with her long locks. She would sometimes brush her hair on his skin when he was restless. She was young and radiated an inner glow. She had a very fierce look; her naturally arched eyebrows gave her a 'holier than thou' scowl, something that scared many away. But as soon as she gave you that smile, it was as if the whole world stopped, just so that it can witness that moment.

But her youthful features got her into a lot of trouble with the visitors. She was often confused as one of the staff members, not a resident. Who could blame her? She was like a rose in a field of dying flowers. But it wasn't always a good thing. Tarble could remember the many times visitors would hit on her. It would make him jealous and angry to no end. It wasn't in their place to be messing around with Mizuna and he made sure they knew that.

"Mizuna, do you remember me?" The young Saiyan asked as he hunched down in hesitation at the young woman sitting on the recliner.

She put down her book down quickly and tensed up, as if she was going to jump him. Tarble tensed as well, but for other reasons. There was no way he could take her on if she didn't recognize him. Then Tarble started to pat his shirt, looking for something. "Just a sec." Tarble told her.

She studied him for a little while, but didn't recognize him. She then reached down in her pocket and pulled out a few pictures. She began skimming through them. Among them were pictures of Oka and Zuya labeled as caretakers/nurse and of some of the residents with their name and what they meant to her. She then stopped at Tarble's picture. It was labeled friend/visitor.

She held up the picture next to Tarble as Tarble held up his copy.

"Tarble…right?" Mizuna said with a bit of hesitation.

"That's right!" Tarble beamed with joy. She finally remembered his name.

"Oh, so I pronounced your name correctly!" Mizuna said as she happily pointed at Tarble's name tag.

Tarble gave a quick frown. He got excited over nothing, but he shook off his feelings. Although hard at times, Tarble couldn't keep mad at her.

"Mizuna! It's Tarble, remember? He comes to visit you every week!" One of the attendants said as she walked by, trying to help Tarble by lightening the situation.

"It's okay…I brought you these by the way." Tarble said as he handed the flowers to Mizuna. They were the same flowers Tarble had been bringing her every week for the last five years.

"These are wonderful!" She said as her eyes lit up. "It's been years since I've seen these flowers, it will really light up this place." Mizuna said as she went to get a vase. The others in the room admired the flowers as they always did. "I hope my son would enjoy these flowers too."

"Your son?" Tarble asked, going along with her.

"Yes! The girls said he was stopping by to visit today! Oh, I can't wait to see him. I haven't seen him in such a long time." She said as she smiled at him.

All Tarble can do was smile back at her. No matter how many times Tarble came to visit Mizuna, he was never quite at ease. What was one to do in these kinds of situations?

"Is this why you are all dressed up?" Tarble said as he tried to keep his composure.

"Yes! I want to look my best when my son comes over. I warrior should never look anything less than perfect." She said as she puffed her chest with pride

"Do you mind if I keep you company while we wait for him to arrive? I'm sure he won't be long." Tarble said smiling at Mizuna, wiggling his tail in excitement. Mizuna was quick to notice.

"I didn't know you were a Saiyan, Tarble!" She said as she beamed for joy for the second time.

"Oh yeah!" Tarble said as he scratched his head. "I guess I forgot to mention that!"

"Well then, come sit! Let me tell you little one a story of when Saiyans were Saiyans!"

* * *

"And there I was Tarble, in the cave of the giant. I had to find a way out, and I couldn't use my ki against these barbarians because as I learned earlier, it was ineffective." Mizuna said as she was engrossed in her story, but she wasn't the only one. Some of the staff and residents lend her an ear as well as Tarble who sat holding on to her every word.

"So what did you do?" Tarble asked as he leaned in with excitement like everyone else.

"Well, everyone knows that these brutes have one big weakness: wine!" Mizuna said as her audience chuckled.

"Wine?" A staff member asked.

"Yes!" Mizuna jumped off her couch. "Wine was their weakness, so I challenged that one eyed freak to a drinking challenge! They may be big, but they're lightweights when it comes to drinking. This ol' girl here can out drink them anytime!" Mizuna boasted.

"And then what happened?" They asked.

"I toyed with him. He was too drunk to even notice that my name wasn't even Nobody. He knocked out drunk!" Mizuna laughed. "It gave me time to look for my space pod in his satchel. I found it, but I still needed to find a way out of his cave! I couldn't roll the stone door because it was just too heavy, so I came up with a plan!" She said.

"What was it?" Tarble asked.

"I needed to find a way for the monster to open the door for me. So I blasted him in his one eye while he was sleeping. He woke up screaming for his brother's help!"

Everyone was on the edge of their seat listening to the Mizuna's epic adventures. "So he ran to the door screaming, 'She hit me, she hit me!' to his brothers. They all rushed to his side and asked him who hit him. He kept screaming 'Nobody! Nobody blasted me in the eye!' That fool was too drunk to notice what he was saying. His brothers just laughed and passed it off as one of his drunken escapades. It gave me enough time to roll out with my space pod and get the hell out of that Kami forsaken land!"

Everyone laughed and clapped at Mizuna's story telling. Everyone was so caught up in her story, that they didn't see what was coming next.

The lights went off.

Tarble was a bit startled until he noticed the light of the candles moving toward their general direction. He was put at ease knowing what was happening.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" Zuya's voice began to sing and everyone started to sing along as well.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MIZUUUNAAAAA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOO YOUU!" Zuya ended as she placed the cake in front of Mizuna.

"Make a wish Mizuna!" Oka said giving a big hug to Mizuna.

"You ladies shouldn't have! I completely forgot!" Mizuna said as she placed her hands on her cheeks; blushing as a result of her happiness. She blew out the candles.

'_I wish I could see my boys'_

Zuya turned on the lights as the candles were blown. "Well everyone, time for cake!"

Mizuna was gathering the small gifts the other residents had given her. She was really grateful for all that was done for her.

"Did you enjoy your little surprise Mizuna?" Tarble asked as he leaned on the door frame. He started to walk toward her direction, just to take a seat beside her.

"I loved it." She said as she gave a smile.

Tarble saw right through her. He knew she was sad and he knew why. He placed his hand right on her hand.

"I'm sure he's just running late." Tarble said as he smiled at her.

Mizuna rubbed the top of his hand with her thumb. "I'm sure he is…" she said as she looked up at him.

"I wish my son were more like you Tarble!" Mizuna said as she grinned. Tarble chuckled at the thought. Mizuna looked at him as he laughed.

"You really remind me of someone Tarble, from the minute you walked in…but I can't quite put my finger on it." She said as she studied him closely.

"I hope it was someone nice!" He said a little nervously.

Mizuna chuckled and got up. She picked up her gifts. "Well, it's getting late. I hope to see you again Tarble, you've been a sweetheart." Mizuna said as she kissed him on the forehead. Tarble turned red.

"Good night Mizuna." Tarble said as he got up and waved goodbye. He was about to leave until he noticed she left her book she was reading earlier on the coffee table.

"Wait Mizuna, you forgot your book!" Tarble said as he ran over to give her the book she was reading earlier

"This isn't my book… " Mizuna said as she found herself confused. Mizuna looked at Tarble strangely, trying to search for something. Tarble knew that look. She had already then turned to the stairs.

"Oh, silly me. Of course not." Tarble said, watching as she went upstairs into her room, thinking to himself how he would do anything in the world for her to just look at him the way she used to. He quickly went over to one of the attendants.

"Nurse Oka, may you please give her this," Tarble handed a little box with a pair of earrings inside them. "Tell her that her son dropped by a little late. Just tell her that she was sleeping by the time he arrived."

"I will certainly do that! I'm sure she would be happy to receive these!" She said as she smiled at Tarble. She patted him on the head. "You're a good boy Tarble!"

"Yeah…I wish Mizuna knew that too." Tarble said with a sad smile. With that he said his goodbye's to the staff and head towards the city to catch his ship back home.

As Tarble walked in front of the building, he looked back to face it.

_Oka and Zuya's Home For The Elderly and Disabled_

On the third flood, 2nd window to the right is where she resided. It's where he would see her look out into the distance lost in thought. He always wondered what went on through her head. Was it just thoughts of the day? But most importantly, did she ever think of him? Did she ever think of them and the family she left?

But all Tarble could hope for was that one day she would remember. One day, Mizuna would just wake up from this awful nightmare and then they could start putting all the pieces back together.

Tarble kissed his hand and waved it to the air.

"I miss you, mom…"

* * *

What did you think? Please review! :)


End file.
